Musical instrument.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

- J. A. WESER. MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 16 1905 UNITED STATES Patented June 27, 190B.

. PATENT OFFICE.

JO A- ERiOF YORK, N. Y.

MUSICAL msrnulaeu r.

' srncxnc'a'rroxroming part of utters Patent no. 793,335, dated June 27,1905. l

lppllcatioa ma mm, 16,1906. Serial a 241,167.

To all whom it ma concern Be it known thatI, JOHN A. WEsER, acitizen of'the' United States, residing in the-borough of Manhattan, in the city of New York,in

the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful-Improvements in Musical Instruments, of which the following isa specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to automatic-musical instruments, such as automatic pianos and or-' gan'sand automatic players, and is particularly concerned with the operative connections between the mechanically-controlled actuating devices and the action of the instrument, such as the ordinary hammer-operating devices of a piano. 7 In musical instruments of the class referred to such operative connections are generally complicated with a multi-,

plicity' of levers and connecting-rods, and, as

is well understood, great care is necessary in ient and practical form.

- larger scale, illustrating particularly the man-. nor of securing the adjustable finger to the In the drawings, Figure 1 is. a sectional view showing enough of an ordinary piano-action to illustrate the'application of thepresent invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a detailview, on a pneumatic. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views illustrating modificationsin the arrangement of theadjustable fi-ngerof the pneumatic.

The'invention is illustrated in thedrawings as applied to an upright, automatic piano in which the power-pneumatics may be controlled by any usual means,.=:no.t, -necessary to be'described or shown indetailherein;

engage the block or shoulder a. clearly in Fig. 2, this adjustable finger is thick I Theparts whichlare more or less directly involved with the present improvements are sufficiently shown-in Fig. 1 and comprise, as

usual, a key-lever a, pivoted upon the keybase in the usual manner and adapted to engage the usualabstract b. The latter is pivotally connected at its upper end to a rocker c, which carries a trigger or jack (1, arranged tooperate the hammer e, as usual, the string with .which the hammer cooperates being indicated at f. The mechanical devices or'pneumatics' for actuating the hammers are preferably located above the key-levers a, two of such pneumatics being represented at g. The pneumatics may be of any suitable construction and may each comprise, as usual, av'alvebox it, connected by a tube t with the usual tracker-board, a wind-trunk l0, and a main or powerpneumatic or bellows l, having a movable board or member m.

In instruments of this class as heretofore constructed it is usual to provide the movable member mof the power-pneumatic with a rigid projecting finger, which is connected by a system of links and levers with the abstract. In the present case, however, all of such intermediate links and levers are dispensed with, and each abstract is provided with a shoulder which may be conveniently -formed by gluing a block 11. upon the abstract,

'andthe movableboard or member m of each power-pneumatic isp'rovided with a pivoted or rocking adjustable finger 0, arranged to As shown ened at its middle part, as at p, to form a fulcrum-goint to bear against the movable board m of t e'power-pneumati'c and is held in place .bya screw g, which passes loosely through a hole 9" in the finger o and enters the movable board of the pneumatic. At the outer end of. the movable board of the pneumatic, in a po-' sition in which it is convenient of access,.is secured athreaded stud s, which enters a slot tin the end of the finger o and receives be-' tween the finger o and the bottom board m a suitable nutu. A spring w may be applied rattling. It will now be understood that when I the power-pneumatic Z is collapsed the rear end of the finger directly engages the block or shoulder a on the abstract 6' and causes plo'yed, as may be desired.

the hammer e to be actuated in the usual manner. Furthermore, by rotation of the nut it upon the threaded stud s the rear end of the finger '0 is adjusted to accommodate the position of the block 11 upon the abstract. manner the adjustment of the pneumatics to the piano-action is readily and quickly accomplished, and special care in the location of the blocks upon the abstracts is rendered unnecessary.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings the spring 20 is finger 0 and the-bellows-board m," but obviously it may be located between the outer end of such finger and the bellows-board, as shown in Fig. 3, in which case the nut u is located on the stud 8 outside of the finger 0. In this arrangement the spring '50 may be employed, if desired, to modify the tone of the instrument, stifier or weaker springs being em- The springs obviously may be arranged to cooperate with the fingers in any convenient manner, or, if desired, they may be dispensed with altogether, as indicated in Fig. 4, in which two nuts u are shown as threaded upon the stud s to receive the end of the finger between them.

As will be seen upon reference to Fig. l of the drawings, the improved connection between the pneumatics and the abstracts permits an exceedingly compact arrangement of the pneumatics with reference to one another and to the piano-action to be attained. The pneumatics, arranged in tiers, can be accommodated to the space requirements of modern pianos, and scarcely more room is required in a piano which can be used both manually and. mechanically than would be required in a piano to be used eithermanually or mechanically alone. Furthermore, the direct connection of the pneumatic to the abstract permits the requisite movement of the pneumatic to be only about two-thirds of What would be necessary ifthe pneumatic acted directlyupon the front end of the key, as in manual playing. The shorter required movement of the pneumatic and its correspondingly quicker movement renders the action of the pneumatic more powerful and improves thequality of the tone.

It will be understood that the form of the I adjustable finger, as well as the means for securing it to the pneumatic and the means for effecting adjustment thereof, may be varied to suit dlfi'erent conditions of use and that the in- In this r vention is not to be restricted tothe precise construction shown and described herein.

I claim as my invention 1. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination of apower-pncumatic and a pianoaction comprising an abstact, of a lever movably secured to the pneumatic and operating directlyon the abstract and means to adjust said lever with relation to the pneumatic, said lever moving in concert with the pneumatic and the abstract, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a piano-action comprisinga series of abstracts, tiers of power-pn'eumatics arranged in proximity to said abstracts, le-

vers movably secured to said pneumatics and directly engaging said abstracts, and spring- 'tension devices applied to said levers. shown as located between the inner end of the 3. In an automatic musical instrument, the

a combination with a power-pneumatic and playing devices to be actuated thereby, of a ful-' crumed lever secured to said pneumatic and 'adapted to engage said playing devices, a

spring to cooperate with said lever, and a reg- =ulating device to cooperate with said lever in opposition to said spring.

4. In an automatic musical instrument, the

} combination with a power-pneumatic and playing devices to be actuated thereby, of a pivoted or rocking finger carried by the movable .member of said pneumatic and in operative relation with said playing devices, and means to adjust said finger,substantially as described.

5. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a power pneumatic and a piano-action comprising an abstract, of a pivoted or rocking finger carried by the movable member of said pneumatic and in operative relation with said abstract, and means to adjust said finger, substantially as described.

6. In an automatic musical instrument, the

combination with a power-pneumatic and a piano-action comprising an abstract, of a finger fulcrumed upon the power-pneumatic and adapted to engage said abstract, and means to adjust said finger, substantially as described.

7. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a power-pneumatic and a piano-action comprising an abstract, of a finger fulcrum'ed upon said pneumatic and adapt ed to engage said abstract, a threaded stud secured to'said pneumatic, and a nut upon said stud to engage said finger, substantially as described.

8. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a'power-pneumatic and'playing devices to be actuated thereby, of a rocking finger carried by the movable member of said pneumatic and in operative relation with said playing devices, a regulating and tone-- IIO stop tocooperate with said finger and limit 'erative relation with said 'playing devices,

the action of said "spring, substantially as desubstantially as described. I scribed. This specification signed and witnessed this 9. In an automatic musical instrument, the 12th day January, A. D. 1905. 5 combination withapower-pneumaticand play- JOHN A. WESER.

ing devices to be actuated thereby, of a mov- In presence of able regulating-lever carried by and with the -W. B. GREELEY,

movable member of said pneumatic and in op- ANTHONY N. J ESBERA. 

